Roya was tucking Kiva in before handing the job of her care to the boys.
Ning Xin was both nervous for some odd reason in front of this Frost Elven lady. She felt as if she needed to put up a good impression and also felt like every little action of her was being judged.
'Why am I so nervous?'
"I'm a chef too." Roya had the same smile on.
"I understand his tongue better. He might appear to be okay with any kind of food but he's extremely particular when eating." She wasn't backing down.
"If he is eating a dish he has eaten, he would replicate his eating steps completely from the first bite to the last. After trying something new, he would optimise the most palatable order of every bite the next time he eats it. Leaving his favourite bite last." Roya was a mother cooking for 2 slightly picky eaters, a chef needed to be observant.
Ning Xin's nervousness disappeared. She understood the change in atmosphere of the smile. She was challenging her! Whose food is more palatable to Ebony?
But Ning Xin was wrong.
There was no challenge, they worked together.
Roya had an eye-opening treat at the many dishes Ning Xin was planning to make. While she herself taught her how to handle frozen ingredients.
Ning Xin had a surprisingly tough time with the ingredients the Thoyas had. Although she had cooked in cold environments in Ordina, all her ingredients were stored well but she saw Roya cut meats that were rock hard. She even fed her sliced frozen raw fish seasoned with salt. It was quite the delicacy.
"Where do you get fish?"
"There's a frozen lake a distance away. Sometimes, the other villagers will form a group to go fishing. There's not many since it's a small lake and we don't want to fish them all up at once. It's been a while, if you want I can ask around to see if anyone wants to make a trip."
"Okay!" She heard Roya say that Ebony liked it, maybe she could make a short trip but she didn't want to be apart for even a moment. They could go after he was done.
They gained mutual respect for each other over cooking. Unfamiliar with each other's techniques.
'This might be a bit too much.' There wasn't any space to plate all their dishes from the dining table to the kitchen table tops. One would know how much food there was if even she admitted to having overdone it.
She was immensely happy to see Ebony gobble everything up, it was quite funny to see his bulging belly all stretched out compared to his normal…layers of perfectly aligned tight muscles. She hadn't seen a man's body often other than some warriors who go around lightly armoured. His half naked body caught her off guard the first time she saw it. And also every time she saw it. Making it very distracting if he sparred without his clothes on. She noticed him glancing at her from her legs up a lot recently.
She didn't say anything since the gaze hadn't been unpleasant. It just made her heart race a little. He didn't cast such glances for the past three days which made her feel disappointed for some reason.
They were having an after-dinner walk which became a habit.
They bumped into Halvis who left to fetch an older-looking Frost Elf which sent shivers down her spine just being in his presence.
'There's something very weird about him. Very very weird. I can't appraise him?' Ning Xin got question marks just like Ebony did.
"Hello, Koawe." Ebony greeted. He clearly knew the villagers well enough.
"A good evening to you too, Ebony. I heard you're evolving?" He was used to Koawe's unsettling smile.
"Yes."
"I'll help prepare your room. Ice and gravity right? I got just the right things." Koawe left without dallying any further
There was actually no need to increase surrounding elemental densities. It was apparently for good luck to get stronger affinities to the elements one was already using. At the very least, there was no real proof that increasing ambient elemental mana density affected anything by a noticeable degree. Pure mana density would make it less burdensome on the body but that was about it.
It was noteworthy that every race would try to do so if possible. Another custom.
"Thank you." He bowed in his direction before they continued their walk.
"He…feels weird." Ning Xin whispered after signalling him to silence their talk.
"Very. He scares me the most, even including the other Grandmaster Frost Elves that aren't here anymore. Although they might be stronger. Actually, I have no idea how strong he is but I don't think he's stronger than the village guardian."
Accompanied silence continued from then till they reached his room in the Thoya household. Koawe already left after he was done.
"Good night."
"I will protect your body."
"My blood is too tasty to be apart from right?" Amused, he teased.
"Yes. You're not allowed to let anyone else have your blood." She actually didn't falter for once and stared right back.
"Seems like I'll have to toughen myself to only bleed for you."
"...I don't like the way you put that."
"Mmm. It'll take a long time but I'll make it so that neither of us will have to bleed. You'll have to suck it out of me if you want."
❅❅❅
Ebony closed the door on her without waiting for her reply. It was rude but he was distracted enough as it was.
He spent the next two hours meditating seriously. Unsure what Koawe did or used but gravity was at least 5 times stronger. Surpassing the gravity in Ordina's highest floor. Obviously, it was freezing cold with thick ice mana in the room.
'Ting' 'You have the requirements to evolve. Evolve Class, Sub-Class, Profession, Partial or Complete?'
"Complete Evolution." He spoke mentally and fell deep asleep.
❅❅❅
For the past 10 days or so, Ning Xin had been undergoing one of the most excruciating trainings she had ever done. What she didn't expect was to enjoy it. Taking care and playing with Kiva the baby girl.
Frost Elf babies weren't that energetic compared to human children, that was what Roya had told her. But here she was, lying on her back with Kiva slapping her mask and making excited cries or yells. Kiva was wrapped up in the same cold blanket.
Kiva hasn't even turned 2 years old yet, but she was able to crawl and even walk a few wobbly steps before falling. The thick blanket she was wrapped with would cushion her fall but Ning Xin couldn't help but reach out to catch her each and every time.
She didn't understand why it was so exhausting, maybe not so much physically but mentally. The little ball had endless stamina. Well, until she just falls asleep without warning. The on-and-off switch on this training instrument could flip at any time.
As stressful as it had been because they didn't like heat and were even sensitive to fire mana, she unexpectedly enjoyed it. Except for Roya who was never far away, examining her old set of battle wear. She knew sister Jing wouldn't mind or even care.
Besides, she opened up her new battle wear to check it out but sister Jing was clearly joking with her. It was a dress! It might be their traditional dress but there was no chance she could fight in it, the slit on the right up went so high it would probably expose her butt if she moved a little or there was some gust of wind. Not to mention it would get in the way with her movement. The size wasn't completely right either, it was a little too tight just about throughout her entire body. She denied that it was due to her eating habits, it was definitely her evolution.
She was irritated that she couldn't even tear it or burn it and had no choice but to leave it alone. Kong Jing didn't even pick up her calls after she shouted into the first call, too busy with her research and clearly having expected what she wanted to say.
The dress was 100% within her fashion sense though, the striking red with a little decoration of flame patterns.
She picked Kiva up and gently placed her into her cot which trapped even cooler air. Not to mention human babies, even an adult might freeze to death if they were placed in this temperature for an extended period of time. But the Frost Elven baby looked as if she was in paradise when she was back in her cool and soft embrace.
"Thank you for playing with her. She's such a handful compared to Clovis." Roya didn't expect Kiva to like Ning Xin so much. She was a little envious that her daughter almost enjoyed her time with the masked human more than with her. It was a little confusing for her to like a stranger who reeks of such hot overflowing essence. Hot was an understatement, for them who were very sensitive to heat and also mana, she was not too different from a small sun when they got close.
Roya attributed it to her little baby not being able to sense essence well which was the best explanation she could come up with.
"It was…fun for me too." She straightened her white casual shirt and untangled her hair.
Xengs were actually not very tall in general, it was just so coincidental that both her and her cousin were outliers. She was tall due to her father being tall while her cousin grew noticeably taller after she evolved each time. Why would a craft woman's body grow noticeably taller with her evolution? She never found out.
In front of the Frost Elves, she was just at the height of a teenager.
It had been a surprisingly pleasant stay with a family of strangers. They were nice like Ebony had said. Just awkward that she never dined with them. She made sure they understood that it wasn't because she didn't want their hospitality but they were already aware of her traditional stupidity.
Not exactly stupid, she heard of multiple stories about backstabs when eating while she learned about her own customs. Before she first put on her mask.
There was one thing. One person bothered her.
A young herbalist girl came in the morning after they arrived. To leave a gift for Ebony.
One look and her Heightened Instincts were screaming. She already knew that this was supposedly the girl that Ebony put his life on the line to protect. She grit her teeth and politely greet her. This girl apparently cared for him while he was injured and was there to save his life during the incident. Then again, it was because of her he got gravely wounded so she had mixed feelings about her.
But coexistence was impossible, she was there to tell the young lady that Ebony wasn't awake every single day. This wasn't her house and she didn't want to put the Thoyas into a more awkward position so she couldn't kick her out. Palom was her name, she was helping Halvis check the soil outside.
This girl was quite the beauty like most Elves were, but she wasn't really that worried. Call it overconfidence, she didn't think Palom had much of a place in his heart from how he talked about her.
Roya asked some questions about the capabilities of her mantle when they looked up at the same time. The ceiling and walls shook with the sound of wood breaking alerting them.
Ning Xin almost reflexively moved but stopped herself even faster, there was a baby in the room and the house wasn't huge. 'That was close. I need to be careful with this reflex. Emotions. I need to stay calm.'
"Go ahead." Roya stayed to watch Kiva. She was in no rush to check on Ebony.
The door was frozen when Ning Xin got there, Palom's footsteps coming up right behind her.
They merely glanced at each other without speaking.
Seconds later, they were blasted with unfiltered overflowing Wisdom. Ning Xin remained unaffected, at least, no one could tell with her mask on but Palom took a step back as her complexion went paler than it was. Resisting the weight pushing them both down.
'Heavy!' Ning Xin wasn't referring to the weight pushing her down or the amount of mana that she was half expecting. His mana itself was heavier than she remembered. Even though her conjured fire mana increased in temperature, her pure mana didn't increase in temperature by nearly as much. As a Mana Meister, Ebony obviously would have more changes to his pure mana. As for getting her thoughts to slow down? This much wasn't nearly enough. She grew up in a village full of overflowing Wisdom that can knock a random monster out. When they were meditating of course.
Palom was also very strong against overflowing Wisdom but she wasn't as used to it and was momentarily stunned.
'Hehe I won. I think I was asleep for a few minutes longer. Oh, I should steam the dumplings I prepared. And pork, the boars here have a lot of fat but surprisingly springy flesh.' Ning Xin was thinking about something else all together.
❅❅❅
Ebony was jolted awake. Finding himself closer to the floor, the bed frames collapsed while he was sleeping.
Putting the soreness in his body aside.
'I thought I should be able to influence the direction of my evolution a little right? That was no different from a long nap.' He was worried. More than just a little.
He thought once he started evolving he would get the short chance to quickly decide if he wanted to use 'potential' to push some generic skills around, merge a skill or two, or even spend potential to get a skill that he was on the cusp of getting.
'Wait. Relax, I remember something. It wasn't just a nap.' Ebony regained his calm quickly.
There was an extremely unsatisfying feeling that he didn't make any choices but his mind was telling him everything was in place.
He blinked, 'Oh I see. Seems about right. Most went into forming my new Core Skill, it felt right but what did I really get?.'
Fortunately, it wasn't like he didn't get to do anything but there was a huge sense of dissatisfaction.
His mind and body had agreed on what to do with his evolution that seemed the most…right.
He saw his status, the 'sacrifices' he made for his new core skill that he 'felt' like he could've gotten was easily seen from the increase in empty skill slots.
'Ting' 'Evolution completed.'
'Class evolved to Serene Blade of Blistering Frost '
'Serene Blade of Blistering Frost Fortification:
Base Mana and Stamina regeneration increased by 500%
Mana efficiency with Ice Magic increased by 200%
Mana efficiency with Body Enhancement Magic increased by 200%
Balance and fluidity when wielding a greatsword increased by 200%
Movement speed increased by 200%
Ice Magic is 250% more resistant to heat
Flames of frost are 250% more fluent in seeping.
Ice Magic is 100% colder'
'I'm pretty sure I influenced this, shifting 250% from how cold to the flames and the heat resistance.' he thought frost flames were already a burst of much lower temperatures than his normal ice magic. He must have felt that, this way, he would no longer be as burdened when casting any ice elemental enhancement. Another problem that he faced when compressing ice mana was heat being produced as he compressed it.
The 'fluency' of seeping should probably be the penetrative capabilities of his flames. More often than not, against higher-level opponents, he has a hard time injuring them and putting ice magic to its full potential. The lethality of his flames should skyrocket.
His Fortification for balance shifted away from the single-handed version which was nice.
'Ting' '1 Core Skill Slot gained
Generic Skills Converted to Class Skills:
Waning Presence'
'That was unexpected. Did I subconsciously think that was a good idea or was it compatible and already going to become my Class Skill? I don't think I spent much 'points' to assign that so maybe it wasn't my doing.' He was a little confused since the process of 'influencing' was hard to remember, even for Ning Xin, so it was probably normal. It was no wonder they couldn't properly tell him what the benefits for complete evolution were.
'Ting' 'Stemmed Class Skills:
Glacial Model - Create sculptures of ice of humanoid forms to do your bidding. Highly concentrated will is placed onto the conjuration of a Glacial Model to follow very simple instructions. Range of will and control over Glacial Models increases by 30% + 2.5% per level. Ability to understand simple instructions increases by 2.5% per level. Has the effective strength of 30% + 2.5% Intelligence.
Consumes MP
Classification: Ice Magic'
Gen influenced him heavily with this skill. Somehow, he doubted Gen had such a skill and was doing everything thru pure manipulation. He was already getting the hang of using them but his low Intelligence had made them more of a distraction than useful. If they didn't need input from him, it would make them worth the mana even if they get destroyed easily.
'There's a lot of testing to do with this. But a nice addition. With this 'will' placed, they wouldn't count as one of my casts and have some level of autonomy right? How many would I be able to have under my will? No generic skill evolution or any stemmed generic skill? I guess I didn't really do much other than focus on my classes.'
'Ting' 'Class Skills mutated and refined:
Layered Ice Carapace mutated and refined into Imperishable Frost Scales
Imperishable Frost Scales - Conjures highly compressed scales of ice, flexible enough to form most familiar forms. In the form of a heavy shield or spherical orb, has the effect of 150% + 2.5% Intelligence. Further change in structure reduces said effect.
Consumes 100MP/Scale
Classification: Ice Magic'
'Uh…an entire shield which cost 750 points of mana became 100 per scale before any sort of compression? I mean, I was changing the internals but did I spend so much mana before? At least my ice magic mana efficiency increased even more so that shouldn't be a big issue. Layering them no longer gives me additional buffs but I could probably get more out of layers with the base increase in effect. Hmm, this might work well with my robe.'
'Ting' 'Sub-Class evolved to Weighted Will
Weighted Will
Mana efficiency with Sound Magic increased by 200%
Mana efficiency with Gravity Magic increased by 200%
Body's natural gravitational flow reversed and increased by 200%
Body naturally reflects physical vibrations with mana vibrations at 100% frequency.
Gravity Magic has an increased strength of 100% Intelligence
Sub-Class Skill evolved:
Sonic Overlay evolved into Sonic Intrusion
Sonic Intrusion - Induce high frequency vibrations onto an entity with physical contact. Frequency increases by 2.5% per level. Penetrated mana will continue vibrating till it runs out or expelled.
Consumes MP
Classification: Sound Magic
'She said class names don't really change much in future right? That's it? Two more empty skill slots. Magnified Gravity Field and Vibrational Gravity Sense is gone. Frost Mist Perception Sphere is gone from my Class as well.'
Sonic Overlay wasn't actually that powerful and although Sonic Intrusion is an improvement, his mana would not be able to penetrate into people or monsters that have mana shielding themselves or at least have difficulty in doing so. He had learned that from sparring with Ning Xin and Hector.
'Ting' 'Stemmed Sub-Class Skills:
Guided Path - Manipulate gravity to assist your movements, a link of gravity mana is created between two entities to attract or repel each other at 60% + 1.0% Intelligence.
Consumes 100MP/Min
Classificatiion: Gravity Magic
He understood that the mana consumption was for a range of 5 metres and would increase proportional with distance. This was likely from his attempts at creating a connection between his sword and his target. He should be able to create a link between two points, attracting his attack towards his target for more speed and power.
'Ting' 'Profession evolved to Runic Mana Maven'
Runic Mana Maven:
Mana Compressibility increased by 200%
Mana Resilience increased by 200%
Mana Density increased by 100%
Profession Skill Mana Moulding merged with Generic Skill Inscription into Inscripted Mana Moulding.'
Inscripted Mana Moulding - Mould raw mana with or without any physical materials with mana manipulation. Weaving runic endeavours into or on your creations with increasing efficiency and accuracy. Increases familiarity with repeated mana pathways and their effectiveness by 20% + 1.0% per level. Increases fine control over mana by 2.5% per level.
'Hot damn. I like this. It would work with my spells wouldn't it? I have been repeatedly 'inscribing' durability runes on my Layered Ice Carapace. I wonder how they fare with each individual scale, would it clash and lose effectiveness?'
Although it doesn't scale with Intelligence, it was a perfect supportive skill to further strengthen his spells.
He didn't let the fact that his natural mana density was doubled. He should easily surpass any Elf's natural mana density now, but with them also being good with mana there was a good chance they had a Physique, Fortification or even multiple skills that also increases mana density just like him.
This one Fortification had many implications, he effectively doubled the strength of all his magic. For him, the increase in mana density was the increase in mass. That was probably why he broke the bed, his steady increase in mass during his evolution must have slowly increased the pressure on the bed frame. The fact that his mana compressibility was further increased meant that his body was naturally forcing even more mana inside. They worked so well in tandem.
'Ting' 'Profession Skill Sheer Mana Compression merged with Profession Skill Reinforced Mana Chassis into Stock Mana Compressive Chassis'
Stock Mana Compressive Chassis - Chassis and framework of mana pool is forcefully held and toughened to hold compressed mana without leakage. Mana exceeding the natural limit of the mana pool will fill up and condense up till 30% + 2.5% before leaking out. Constitution is increased directly proportional to Intelligence to how compressed mana is in the body.
'Did I expect too much? Was it just a waste of time to push it to 200? I mean, other than it being amazing with all three of my Fortifications. Even without levelling or stat points, my body's toughness probably increased more than I can imagine already. No wonder Ning Xin had trouble controlling herself.' It wasn't as if he got any 250% Fortifications with the grand number of 200 since a profession couldn't withstand it.
The combined skill dropped quite a bit in level, it probably meant he was unable to compress mana as much until the skill levelled up some.
There was even more potential with his Profession now and he was wasting it, he really should work on creating new skills and begin strengthening them. Although there wasn't a single Fortification that improves his runic work directly for the time being he was very satisfied with his base mana density increasing.
'I lost Mana Perception too. 4 skills merged just for this Core Skill which I subconsciously decided was worth it and just immediately linked it…What was I thinking, me?'
'Ting' 'Class Skill Frost Mist Perception Sphere, Sub-Class Skill Magnified Gravity Field, Vibrational Gravity Sense and Profession Skill Mana Perception merged into Icy Weighted Quiver Domain.
'Icy Weighted Quiver Domain has been bound as your Core Skill.'
'The name's a little…silly. What the…I can't use this.'
Icy Weighted Quiver Domain - Summon, Conjure, Will your personal domain into existence. Flood condensed ice mana into the range of your domain with 350% + 2.5% Intelligence that actively protects you. Gravity is increased by 300% + 2.5% of your Intelligence. Flooded mana domain will vibrate violently around any body of motion, vibration frequency and strength increases by 250% + 2.5% per level.
Consumes 58,000MP/Min
Classification: Ice Magic, Gravity Magic & Sound Magic
'Wow. Is there a glitch? What's with that number?'
He put aside just how nonsensical the skill and its mana cost were and stood up. He wasn't slipping, his natural repulsion had increased in strength by 2 Fortifications worth but it was as if his body knew to gravitate or ground himself. His legs and feet were incredibly sore but his entire body was aching and screaming in protest at his movement.
He didn't exactly get lightheaded when he stood but his initial panic when he woke up must have been due to mental fatigue of some kind. The throbbing in his head was intense though.
'Hmm. Am I around 180cm tall now? My reach increased, I hope that doesn't mess up my body balance with Icicle too much. I think I got a tiny bit bulkier too. But my head hurts, did my brain increase in size?'
The change in his build wasn't obvious but noticeable, tiny changes could mess up movements a lot. Fortunately, his head didn't expand or anything, it only felt tighter in his head. Hopefully, his body could adapt to the changes soon.
His skin and muscles suddenly started tearing, some of his bones snapped, his veins ruptured. The sudden development was shocking, he quickly realised that his mana regenerated fully and was starting to compress itself in his body. His body couldn't handle the stress of his strengthened mana and his mana chassis was breaking his body down as they ruptured in his body.
Ebony quickly expelled the mana in his body by conjuring some Frost Scales and his body started healing immediately.
'Ting' 'Remaining Natural Potential Infused to Physique.'
He wasn't able to allocate any more generic skills, mutate, refine or evolve any more skills with the Natural Potential he had left or so he thought. It was inconvenient that one isn't able to remember their own choices, from what he heard it shouldn't be so bad. Was it just him that forgot so easily? Did he make these choices without much thought and was in a trance when he did so? That seemed likely.
Putting the rest into physique was clearly beneficial but he checked twice to see that nothing changed. It must have been insufficient to improve his physique noticeably.
He looked around for his myriad bracelet and a fresh set of clothes. He needed to wash off the gunk and stinkiness on him. His bag was lying against the frozen table and he accidentally knocked it over. The watch that came over to Elcra with him rolled out.
'Pretty sure I packed that up pretty deep in.' Picking it up, thinking that it might be time to give it a wipe down. He stopped halfway.
'Of course I didn't notice. There's some mana inside my watch. Forget it, not now.' There was a faint signature of mana coming from within his old watch. He could barely sense it with his current senses. Food and bath came first.
Putting his bracelet on, it didn't take long to realise that it really couldn't absorb all his leaking mana. The absorption speed was lower than his output. In the time that he was getting his bearings, his health, stamina and mana already fully filled themselves.
He thawed the ice around the room and threw the block of ice out of the window, letting it dissipate slowly instead of littering around their house.
His exit was welcomed by someone that settles his mind as much as riles it up.
His greatest weakness and greatest strength.